BarryD
New member
FWIW I Agree. NM
Realy NM
Barry D.
Realy NM
Barry D.
tcm
...
lots of good advice below.
For small types the saloon should be within reach of the helm - by which I mean no flybridges.
Other thing is easy access on and off - leaping is no good for small people or large people carying large people, so get decent gangplank (passarelle) or an attachment so you can put one up when moored up.
Finally, small people tend to favour the indoors, so bit of a check that at ground level things ain't sharp, drawers won't fly out, things won't land onnem. So need positive "clicking" catches on drawers and cupboards.
For small types the saloon should be within reach of the helm - by which I mean no flybridges.
Other thing is easy access on and off - leaping is no good for small people or large people carying large people, so get decent gangplank (passarelle) or an attachment so you can put one up when moored up.
Finally, small people tend to favour the indoors, so bit of a check that at ground level things ain't sharp, drawers won't fly out, things won't land onnem. So need positive "clicking" catches on drawers and cupboards.
ari
Well-known member
Re: Crap!!
Hands up all those "NO DON'T HAVE PETROL IT IS EXPLOSIVE, NOT WORTH EVEN THE SMALL RISK, WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!" people who have gas aboard their boats for cooking....????
Hands up all those "NO DON'T HAVE PETROL IT IS EXPLOSIVE, NOT WORTH EVEN THE SMALL RISK, WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!" people who have gas aboard their boats for cooking....????
BarryD
New member
HEck of a lot of petrol boats out there... NM
<G>
Barry D.
<G>
Barry D.
paulineb
Active member
Not guilty
No gas on board - we're all electric
Pxx
No gas on board - we're all electric
Pxx
KevB
Active member
Minimum 30ft and twin diesel. 30ft minimum because anything less will give an uncomfortable ride for the family in all but the calmest of weather. Twin diesel for redundancy and because anything else in the long run is false economy.
tcm
...
Re: ditto, pauline nm
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G
Guest
Guest
David,
Good luck with whatever you choose. We have just moved from a sailing boat to a motor boat due to arrival of our new baby who is now 14 months. Our choice was a diesel 24 foot, but it is all so personal I would not like to recommend any particular make. Just remember mooring costs and maintence costs can sprial as the boat gets bigger or older. (Also time was a factor for us, as boat DIY with a 12 month toddler did not appeal!)
On a practical note, ask friends for an old car seat, plastic base if possible. Brillant for the little one to sleep in when motoring and also good for feeding when they move to solids. Ensure you have shore power, and a fridge. Heating is an essential although ours is shore power only it is fine for us. Also we have found we often have to motor with canopy up to stop little one getting cold or wet.
Unexpected surprises we have found: gas cooker to close to seats, bathing platform makes getting on and off so much easier when carrying little one, Pontoon berth saved a lot of stress, storage of pushchair was not considered at time of buying boat.
Overall, although sometimes challenging each trip gets easier. Email if you want to talk but good luck.
Good luck with whatever you choose. We have just moved from a sailing boat to a motor boat due to arrival of our new baby who is now 14 months. Our choice was a diesel 24 foot, but it is all so personal I would not like to recommend any particular make. Just remember mooring costs and maintence costs can sprial as the boat gets bigger or older. (Also time was a factor for us, as boat DIY with a 12 month toddler did not appeal!)
On a practical note, ask friends for an old car seat, plastic base if possible. Brillant for the little one to sleep in when motoring and also good for feeding when they move to solids. Ensure you have shore power, and a fridge. Heating is an essential although ours is shore power only it is fine for us. Also we have found we often have to motor with canopy up to stop little one getting cold or wet.
Unexpected surprises we have found: gas cooker to close to seats, bathing platform makes getting on and off so much easier when carrying little one, Pontoon berth saved a lot of stress, storage of pushchair was not considered at time of buying boat.
Overall, although sometimes challenging each trip gets easier. Email if you want to talk but good luck.
ari
Well-known member
"Minimum 30ft and twin diesel. 30ft minimum because anything less will give an uncomfortable ride for the family in all but the calmest of weather. Twin diesel for redundancy and because anything else in the long run is false economy. "
Absolutely, and lets not forget that he has said that it wants to be under 2 years old, all nice and new for reliability and to tempt the missus, so I guess therefore he wants something like a 2000 Sealine F33 with a pair of KAD 32/dp diesels? So whats that, £100,000 plus?
Or, he could buy a little petrol engined Sealine S24 or Bayliner 2655 for about £25K which would be easy for them all to handle and to see if they like it, which I think is where we came in...
Point is it is all a compromise, and sweeping statements like "Don't buy petrol boats" are only relevent if we know all of the facts, including the biggie, how much does he want to spend?
In certain circumstances petrol will make more sense, in others, diesel.
I seem to remember a certain BarryD "cutting his teeth" with a petrol boat and it hasn't done him any harm as far as I can tell (Mind you he is the sole owner of a new Cadillac in the UK... perhaps we should ignore that last comment of mine! <G>)
Ari
Absolutely, and lets not forget that he has said that it wants to be under 2 years old, all nice and new for reliability and to tempt the missus, so I guess therefore he wants something like a 2000 Sealine F33 with a pair of KAD 32/dp diesels? So whats that, £100,000 plus?
Or, he could buy a little petrol engined Sealine S24 or Bayliner 2655 for about £25K which would be easy for them all to handle and to see if they like it, which I think is where we came in...
Point is it is all a compromise, and sweeping statements like "Don't buy petrol boats" are only relevent if we know all of the facts, including the biggie, how much does he want to spend?
In certain circumstances petrol will make more sense, in others, diesel.
I seem to remember a certain BarryD "cutting his teeth" with a petrol boat and it hasn't done him any harm as far as I can tell (Mind you he is the sole owner of a new Cadillac in the UK... perhaps we should ignore that last comment of mine! <G>)
Ari
terryw
New member
I have read the threads with interest, especially the Petrol vs Diesel argument.
We have just bought our first "Sea worthy" boat at the LBS, although we were previously on the rivers. It is a 25' sport cruiser made by Doral of Canada, and has a PETROL engine. Why petrol? Because if it was diesel we could not have afforded it, and would therefore still be on the river.
The difference in price between our 5.0L Volvo with fuel injection, and the equivalent Volvo KAD unit was £8000. With petrol at £4.50 / gallon and diesel at average £1.35 this equates to approx 2500 gallons of fuel to break even.
Fuel consumption figures from boaters (not manufacturer) show that properly trimmed, and on the plane at 25 mph the boat uses approx 5 gallons per hour. This equates to 12,500 miles, which in most cases is a lifetime of cruising, just to break even.
Where is this going? Well IMO do not be put off buying a petrol boat if it is the one you like, and can afford. It is better to be out there in a clean, quiet, and fast petrol, than not being out there at all in a dirty, noisy, more sluggish diesel.
Good luck with your boating, and remember "Enjoy yourself"
ps We will probably be getting an LPG conversion for £2500 and getting fuel economy nearer to diesel prices (while the red allowance remains), but we will be on the South Coast.
We have just bought our first "Sea worthy" boat at the LBS, although we were previously on the rivers. It is a 25' sport cruiser made by Doral of Canada, and has a PETROL engine. Why petrol? Because if it was diesel we could not have afforded it, and would therefore still be on the river.
The difference in price between our 5.0L Volvo with fuel injection, and the equivalent Volvo KAD unit was £8000. With petrol at £4.50 / gallon and diesel at average £1.35 this equates to approx 2500 gallons of fuel to break even.
Fuel consumption figures from boaters (not manufacturer) show that properly trimmed, and on the plane at 25 mph the boat uses approx 5 gallons per hour. This equates to 12,500 miles, which in most cases is a lifetime of cruising, just to break even.
Where is this going? Well IMO do not be put off buying a petrol boat if it is the one you like, and can afford. It is better to be out there in a clean, quiet, and fast petrol, than not being out there at all in a dirty, noisy, more sluggish diesel.
Good luck with your boating, and remember "Enjoy yourself"
ps We will probably be getting an LPG conversion for £2500 and getting fuel economy nearer to diesel prices (while the red allowance remains), but we will be on the South Coast.
ari
Well-known member
Quite! (although one must remember that the diesel boat will be worth more on resale so not all the price differential between petrol and diesel can be spent on fuel and still break even if you see what I mean).
Now if you were buying a twin engined 40ft boat you'd have been mad to buy petrol engines cos the percentage difference in the purchase price would have been so much less and you'd never sell a secondhand 40ft petrol boat unless you were giving it away.
Now if you were buying a twin engined 40ft boat you'd have been mad to buy petrol engines cos the percentage difference in the purchase price would have been so much less and you'd never sell a secondhand 40ft petrol boat unless you were giving it away.
terryw
New member
I fully agree. But for boats with single engines, and less that 28-29 foot, do not discount petrol if it is all you can afford
BarryD
New member
Hi - well I bought a 5.7l petrol engined craft for my first boat, 'cos it was a cheap boat, had the size I thought we wanted and would get me on the water. If we found we didn't enjoy boating then I didn't want £40k + tied up somewhere that I needed to sell - instead I've got a small amount that I need to sell (see PM Davie <G>).
Electrics & sea water don't mix, petrol is highly inflamable and therefore petrol engined boats are unsafe and you are almost branded a criminal and threat to your family by the majority of the board if you buy one! And as for LPG well install it and they near enough call the social services <G>. Just bear with the poor things whilst they rant upon about diesel boats.
It depends a lot on how you are going to use the boat. If you want to travel long distances then diesel is a must, if you just want to be on the water and to bimble around locally with the occassional hop elsewhere then petrol is as good as anything. Most of the time you will be tied up somewhere - so get a boat with the condition and space and facilities (heating maybe?) you want and consider the engines as secondary.
So why am I in the process of buying a diesel boat. Peer presure maybe <G>, no since I got MVII our needs have changed and I want a newer bigger boat, I looked at a new twin 5.0l and an older diesel boat. The diesel boat won out as it had better spec was like new and was cheaper (better suited to my budget). Of course the fuel is cheaper, and I'd be a liar if I didn't say this also played a part in my thoughts.
Get a boat, get your feet wet, meet some nice people. Petrol is fun and cheap to buy, expensive to run, cheap to maintain - a nice petrol will always sell to the next newcomer. Diesel boats cost more to buy, are cheap to run and expensive to maintain but are cost effective in the long term - not worth getting until you know what you want (or think you want!) out of a boat.
All IMHO, FWIW & NWGOI
Barry D.
Electrics & sea water don't mix, petrol is highly inflamable and therefore petrol engined boats are unsafe and you are almost branded a criminal and threat to your family by the majority of the board if you buy one! And as for LPG well install it and they near enough call the social services <G>. Just bear with the poor things whilst they rant upon about diesel boats.
It depends a lot on how you are going to use the boat. If you want to travel long distances then diesel is a must, if you just want to be on the water and to bimble around locally with the occassional hop elsewhere then petrol is as good as anything. Most of the time you will be tied up somewhere - so get a boat with the condition and space and facilities (heating maybe?) you want and consider the engines as secondary.
So why am I in the process of buying a diesel boat. Peer presure maybe <G>, no since I got MVII our needs have changed and I want a newer bigger boat, I looked at a new twin 5.0l and an older diesel boat. The diesel boat won out as it had better spec was like new and was cheaper (better suited to my budget). Of course the fuel is cheaper, and I'd be a liar if I didn't say this also played a part in my thoughts.
Get a boat, get your feet wet, meet some nice people. Petrol is fun and cheap to buy, expensive to run, cheap to maintain - a nice petrol will always sell to the next newcomer. Diesel boats cost more to buy, are cheap to run and expensive to maintain but are cost effective in the long term - not worth getting until you know what you want (or think you want!) out of a boat.
All IMHO, FWIW & NWGOI
Barry D.
paulineb
Active member
Off-licence boat
And according to Master BradleyD, you need to moor next to our boat, so you don't have to go to the off-licence for beer - out of the mouths of babes!!! ;-)
Pxx
And according to Master BradleyD, you need to moor next to our boat, so you don't have to go to the off-licence for beer - out of the mouths of babes!!! ;-)
Pxx
phil_sin
New member
Hi, I also have found this post useful. We are waiting for our first boat to be delivered (Maxum 2400SCR) which should arrive in the next 10 day's. I have gone through all the thought processes that everyone else seem to have Petrol/Dev, can I afford to run Petrol but how do we afford the Dev engine option. In the end went with Petrol mainly because the boat we wanted did not come with a Dev option! It is good to know that I am not alone!
I have also been greatly tempted by the LPG conversion idea after reading the recent articles singing it praises and would love to hear the forums constructive comments about it!
I have also been greatly tempted by the LPG conversion idea after reading the recent articles singing it praises and would love to hear the forums constructive comments about it!
hlb
RIP
Whats not been properly addressed is. Can you actualy buy petrol at your location or ones you intend to visit and is the range going to be enough to get to the next place. In some parts this might not be a problem but in others it's just not available. Lugging a galon can for the tender outboard is on thing but 50 or 100 gallon, quite another. These are the real down to earth reasons for not having petrol. Yes I know, when you start you just want to go round the corner, but not long after. It's, well we've been there umpteen times, what about going to xxxx. Errumff. Well we cant cos they dont sell petrol. Or we havn't got the range. And can you realy cope with a new born in a 25 ft boat?? Soon be fed up. Now with 30-33 its comfortable and has the equipment to cope.
Haydn
Haydn
BarryD
New member
Now that Pauline is a splendid idea <G>
He did you know, he really did...
Barry D.
He did you know, he really did...
Barry D.
KevB
Active member
Terry,
My last boat had twin 50ltr petrols which I had converted to LPG. LPG is a nice eco friendly fuel very clean and the engines ran very smooth on it. The problem comes when you actually equate the costs. LPG costs 28p ish per litre compared with 28p ish for diesel and 80p ish for Petrol, in reality the running cost of LPG (without taking into consideration the 5k installation cost) is closer to that of petrol than diesel.
How is that you ask? Well in reality LPG is at least 20% less efficient than Petrol and petrol is at least 20% less efficient than diesel giving AT LEAST a 40% efficiency loss over diesel. Coupled with the range limitations of LPG (220ltrs gave me less than 3 hours cruising) and the hassle of refuelling every trip, it's not worth converting.
Much better to buy a diesel boat in the first place which I have now done.
My last boat had twin 50ltr petrols which I had converted to LPG. LPG is a nice eco friendly fuel very clean and the engines ran very smooth on it. The problem comes when you actually equate the costs. LPG costs 28p ish per litre compared with 28p ish for diesel and 80p ish for Petrol, in reality the running cost of LPG (without taking into consideration the 5k installation cost) is closer to that of petrol than diesel.
How is that you ask? Well in reality LPG is at least 20% less efficient than Petrol and petrol is at least 20% less efficient than diesel giving AT LEAST a 40% efficiency loss over diesel. Coupled with the range limitations of LPG (220ltrs gave me less than 3 hours cruising) and the hassle of refuelling every trip, it's not worth converting.
Much better to buy a diesel boat in the first place which I have now done.
KevB
Active member
Ari,
no thanks, wouldn't buy a fly bridge if I had a baby.
no thanks, wouldn't buy a fly bridge if I had a baby.
hlb
RIP
Here endeth the leason. (Hopefully).
Haydn
Haydn
